Chapter Text
"Izuku Midoriya? He was just some quirkless, problematic kid in my class, constantly talking about being bullied, beaten, and so on. Even though everyone in the class was a good student, showing promise for becoming a hero! I don't understand why you're so interested in learning about Midoriya."
With every word from the blond-haired homeroom teacher of Aldera Elementary, the professional hero Eraserhead felt irritation welling up in every inch of his body.
"Perhaps you've noticed some changes in Midoriya's behavior, like secrecy, depression, maybe he's afraid of something—Tsukauchi tasked him with going to an elementary school on the outskirts of town and questioning the staff and students about a new serial killer of heroes and villains who recently appeared on the outskirts of town, as well as about the disappearance of students from that school."
"He was constantly nervous, sitting at his desk like a scared puppy, constantly muttering under his breath. Because of his muttering, he constantly distracted other students from their lessons." The teacher sighed, continuing to leaf through the papers on his desk, feigning the frantic activity of work.
Kerisama Ukawa, Neriza Lanlau, Ihana Ju, Izuku Midoriya, and Akayama Tsura. All these children disappeared in various places; some of them were found by the police, torn and disemboweled, in alleys and abandoned houses, packed in small boxes with makeshift bows, or hung by hooks, rebar, or something similar, or by their feet. But some were never found, and the police launched a search for the children.
"Okay, I hear you." Closing his tired eyes, Shota headed for the classroom exit, intending to leave this school and head to the Tsukauchi precinct, wanting to grab a strong coffee from the nearest coffee machine.
Most of the villains recently spotted by the police and wanted by the police were often found decapitated and missing their organs in front of the police station entrance.
This serial killer often brought back the carcasses of disemboweled heroes, who, after opening the notes always lying next to the corpses, were listed as rapists, drug dealers, addicts, egotists, "social media stars," and so on.
These horrific murders began a month ago, claiming the lives of many villains, petty criminals, and aspiring heroes.
According to the detective, most of the bodies were found in the back alleys of shady neighborhoods. But sometimes, these bodies were also found in parks, subway stations, and other crowded places.
***
Near the entrance to a shopping center, a woman and her child found a headless corpse sitting next to a trash can, and on it, as always, lay a folded sheet of paper from an ordinary school notebook. This time, the head of yet another criminal was in the trash can itself, next to the body.
In the worst case, this head would have been in an empty stomach, missing organs.
A long trail of blood trailed from the corpse, as if the body had been dragged. The victim struggled weakly all the way to the treasured trash can, most likely due to injuries and loss of consciousness from blood loss.
The trail continued to an alley between two ordinary houses; in the alley, there was an oil painting for those who enjoy bloodstains.
The walls in the corner were stained with blood, and there were pieces of skin, flesh, and clothing somewhere.
But what caught Eraser's attention were the shoe stains on the wall above, leaping up to the roof of one of the buildings.
Waiting for a couple of police officers to approach him to collect evidence in the alley, Aizawa quickly grabbed one of the pipes with his grappling hook to climb up to the roof.
As soon as he leaped onto the building, the first thing Eraser saw were some of the man's missing organs on the edge of the roof.
As he tried to get closer, he didn't notice when he stepped on something slimy and squished under his shoe.
Looking down at what he'd stepped on, he lifted his foot and saw a crushed mess of a kidney.
Winning, he walked around the villain's scattered organs and stood on the edge.
From the roof, he could see the shopping mall itself, where police and forensic experts were working alongside several local heroes patrolling the area.
Sighing and looking at the entrails left behind by the serial killer, Aizawa decided to go down.
"What did you find there, Construction Head?" Detective Tsukauchi asked as he approached. He was quite tired from all his time on the force.
Aizawa, meanwhile, tried to wipe the blood off his boot on the pavement, grumbling under his breath so only the detective could hear. "That psycho ripped out the entrails again and ate half of them. Apparently he was distracted by something or didn't like the taste, since he didn't finish his 'snack.'"
Naomasa grimaced in displeasure, writing down the underground hero's words in his notebook, muttering something.
The other police officers were collecting all the evidence, fingerprints, and everything else, shouting to each other and running from one corner to the other.
Several men, including forensic experts and a forensic scientist, were collecting the body of the murdered man piece by piece, placing it on a stretcher.
***
The day dragged on, monotonously, everyone bustling about in the office, filling out new paperwork. While Aizawa sat in Tsukauchi's office, listening to complaints about the serial killer again.
"By the way, have you heard the news about something happening on Kyushu Island?" the Pro-Hero spoke up when the detective calmed down after his tirade.
"Are you talking about the fire at the secret S-3 base in Kyushu? Yes, I heard. The local police say it was a leak of classified information, and are currently in the process of deleting posts, videos, photos, and so on. We're doing the same. But I have a lot of questions about this disaster, which, unfortunately, won't be answered." Tsukauchi merely sighed, rubbing his temples.
"I see..."